THERE was a less-than-expected turnout for a planned mass meeting in Accompong Town, St Elizabeth, on Saturday, with organisers claiming that fear caused many people to stay away.

The meeting was called by prospective candidates for the Maroon election in Accompong who contend that Richard Currie is no longer the legitimate leader of the Maroon village, with his five-year tenure having expired on February 18.

But in a release hours before the meeting was scheduled to be held Tamica Taylor, who has taken on the title of security minister of Accompong, advised the public that it was unauthorised.

“We wish to make it clear that this event is not registered with the council and neither has it been approved by the relevant authorities. As we approach and finalise plans for our 2026 elections we are encouraging all visitors to our space to respect our crime-free and sacred space, and we are encouraging our residents to avoid any confrontation or altercation with these potential visitors as we finalise plans to conduct a transparent and fair election free of intimidation and interference,” Taylor said in the release.

On Sunday Ferron Williams, a former colonel of Accompong and a prospective candidate, told the Jamaica Observer that several people did not attend the meeting because of a fear of confrontation.

“We had planned a mass meeting, however Currie had put out a flyer and as such, a lot of people were afraid and didn’t come. A lot of people attended but the majority did not; a lot of them were of the impression that there would be a big confrontation. They did not know that the police would be coming and as such, even persons living in Accompong didn’t turn out because they were saying that they did not want to get caught up in any dispute — especially with Currie,” claimed Williams.

“There were over 500 people in attendance. It went well, although his supporters were hell-bent on causing disturbance. While the meeting was going on they drove a road roller and a big truck with asphalt. The road has been bad for over five years and he did not think about fixing it until Saturday. They crawled through with the roller and other heavy equipment, disturbing the meeting.

“Those who were not afraid of Currie or his goons stood by but you had other persons who stayed far away, listening, and wouldn’t want to be identified that they were at the meeting. The police were there to keep everything quiet. If they weren’t there I am certain that you would have heard more about it. Why did they plan road repairs for that day? They knew that the meeting was planned weeks ago [so] why didn’t they do it on Friday or Thursday?” added Williams.

Cadien Wallace, another potential candidate, told the Observer that the election might have to go on without Currie if he does not get with the programme.

“I gave him an ultimatum on Saturday. We have a letter circulating now to get some signatures. If he does not sign on that letter we will still have enough signatures to invite the Electoral Office [of Jamaica] to a meeting, because I have talked to them directly and they are waiting on an official invitation.

”We are going to get that letter to them, inviting them to come and meet with us so we can start planning the election. We already declared ourselves as candidates so if Currie wants to be a candidate he can sign the document,” said Wallace.

He attributed the lower-than-expected turnout at the meeting to fear as well as the time it was held.

“There was some confusion because Currie’s team put out a statement. If you read the statement, it did not say that a meeting couldn’t be held. People who did not read it were spreading that rumour that no meeting could keep… A lot of people stayed away because of what they heard Currie’s team said. The time that we planned the meeting for was also a problem. We chose 10:00 am because of the amount of rain we have been getting. Some people come back from their farm around that time. Those factors caused the crowd size to not be so pleasing. I think it was over 500 people,” added Wallace.

WILLIAMS…several people did not attend the meeting because of a fear of confrontation